Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato, whose novel The Tunnel is hailed as an existentialist classic and who presided over a probe into the crimes committed by the nation's military rulers, has died aged 99.

Ingrid Betancourt, who spent six years as a hostage in Colombia, and Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto lead a line-up of major international names heading to Australia for this year's Sydney Writers' Festival.

British author and former parliamentarian Jeffrey Archer expects to raise more than 5 million pounds ($7.8 million) when he sells works from his art collection including paintings by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol.